The circus is in town, this time with a number of Jewish clowns among the 200 who made their first appearance on Thursday at Madison Square Garden when the Ringling Brothers and Barnum Bailey Circus opened its show.
It was a grand and glorious opening, attended by thousands. Although the program lasted fully four hours, there was not a single dull moment. Dancing elephant curveting horses, extremely we##trained sea-lions, bears on roller skates, camels dancing to jazz music, beautiful male and female acrobats, apaches, cowboys, Bengal lancers, nimble men and women leaping on and off graceful horses—all this just a part of the huge program of the evening.
BREATH-TAKING FEATS
There were numerous daring acrobatic acts on the program performed with miraculous agility. Many of the somersaults in the air left the public breathless. Miss Gillette’s 40-foot drop to the ground provoked a unanimous gasp from the thousands of spectators.
The air was filled with men and women flying from one trapeze to another, riding bicycles on ropes, performing astonishing acrobatics at the risk of their lives. All this was done to the tune of a large band constantly changing the tempa of its music. The first prize of the evening, if such were awarded, would no doubt go to one of the twelve young sea-lions, which exhibited unbelievable intelligence in playing the American National An-them on a row of brass ### without making a single mistake in tone. The intelligence which this particular sea-lion displayed in following the tempo of the music and in bowing to the public will interest not only the average circus-goer but many a scientist interested in the psychology and mentality of animals.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
